Maynard James Keenan on New Tool Album: ‘It’s a Long Process’

It has been seven years since Tool last gave us their last album, ‘10,000 Days,' which fans are hoping is not an indicator of how long they will have to wait before another one hits the shelves. There have been sporadic updates from members and the band's website and now singer Maynard James Keenan has given an update on the progress from where he stands.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Keenan doesn't exactly deliver the update Tool fans were hoping for. He states, "I don't write the music. They [my bandmates] write the music. I wait for them to bring music to me. They tend to go back over and over stuff. It's a long process. For a person like me, it can be a very tedious process." We all know the members of Tool are slaves to their craft, so this is nothing surprising.

When talking about his own work ethic and that of his bandmates, Keenan says. "In some ways, they are bigger perfectionists. But you can only help support their talent so long. They don't have to go through it 700 times. They can trust that first thought. But that's their process, so you gotta let them do it." When asked whether that process was happening, Keenan replied, "I couldn't tell you."

In a Loudwire interview with drummer Danny Carey, he speculated that the band would have a new album out in early 2014. With Keenan's new quotes, that timetable might be in jeopardy. Whether one day Keenan will get a call that he has music to start writing lyrics for and when the band will hit the studio remains a mystery. What we do know is that the dynamic frontman is busy with other avenues, like wine making that sees him locked away in this passion from August through November. He also has been busy with his band Puscifer, as well as a pair of new compilations from A Perfect Circle.